Until It Sleeps
by Blackened
Summary: Xu has no idea just how bad a day she'll have when one of her cadets goes missing before a test


**Until It Sleeps**

He awoke in a cold sweat the dream still carving its glacial path of dread through his mind. he looked at his hand half expecting them to glisten with scarlet blood yet instead they were coated with the grey, gritty grime that covered the worn wooden slatted floor of the cargo carriage as it rattled and clanked its way along the tracks. he had been foolish to have let the soothing rocking motion back here lull him into sleep, not only did it leave him open to discovery and capture but enabled those images to torment him as they did every time he closed his eyes. Maybe they would go away once he completed this mission although deep in his heart he knew that to be his wishful thinking, all he could hope for was the pain to be lessened. there would be those that would consider whether what he intended to do was worth it, that it would change nothing, but they were ignorant of the maelstrom within his mind, the negative emotions swirling inside like the swelling waves of an ocean storm, crashing into one another and feeding off each others energy so that each crushing wave grew and smashed into the sides of his head. They never let him forget that sight, never relented in their torment as clouds of pain billowed crackling with the thunder and lightning of rage all the while grief darkened the sky like blackened curtains. They whispered and hissed quietly in the back of his mind incessantly, forever reminding what had to be done and now he was finally on his way to accomplish this.

He reached for his shabby black rucksack that he somehow kicked aside in his tumultuous slumber in the gloom of the abandoned car. It wouldn't bode well if he'd lost it now for within it contained all he owned, everything from the life he'd left behind as well as what he needed for the one that lay ahead.

Xu was not having the best of days, her usual pleasant countenance marred by an overcast of annoyance as she stalked through Garden moodily. She had no time for wayward cadets especially unexceptional ones like Xayne Rainrix. It was bad enough that he made hardly any effort towards progressing on to being a full fledged SeeD, but to go missing on the day of your Fire Cavern test was just going too far. At first she'd merely thought he'd overselpt and after knocking on his room door several times to silent reply head entered his room to find it empty, the curtains drawn except for a thin slit which showed the dust dancing in the fine beam of sunlight that pierced the gloom as her movement disturbed it. From that point she had roamed the whole of Garden searching for him even going so far as the Training Centre where she least expected him to be but to no avail, it seemed he had left Garden. 'Don't tell me he went to the Cavern by himself and I missed him' She thought to herself as she headed towards Garden's entrance almost bumping into Nida without realising it.

'In a rush?' Nida quipped as he easily sidestepped the oncoming Xu, hiding his feelings at being overlooked again behind a humourless grin.

'Sorry Nida, that damn slacker Xayne has gone wandering off when he's meant to be taking the Fire Cavern test' Xu replied her hands waving around to accentuate her annoyance.

'You're hoping he's already there? Well at least you get to vent at him for messing you around when you get there' Nida said cheerfully.

'Damn right!' she answered emphatically and gave him a brief nod as she continued on out of the entrance.

Nida walked on in his own direction for a moment before stopping and turning back round with a frown on his face "Wait hadn't Xayne..." he thought and was about to call out to Xu when he saw she'd already disappeared down the path. He let out a sigh with a small shake of his head as he decided to leave it until she got back, if it actually mattered. After all did it really make a difference if a cadet took the test a second time?

The train shuddered to a halt almostsending him rolling if he hadn't braced himself beforehand. He stood up and stretched, walking slowly to the double doors in the centre of the cariage and prised them apart slightly allowing daylight to flood in. So, he'd finally arrived now all he had to do was get off the train unseen. Slowly he eased his out between the doors looking either way for any of the train conductors or guards and once satisfied dove from the carriage rolling down the embankment onto hard flagstones. He groaned softly as he came to a halt on his back. Would it have killed them to have some soil and grass around here?

He lay gazing up at the clouds as the train thundered off once more, no one seeming to have noticed him as they bustled on the station a few hundred metres away. He picked himself up dusting himself down as he shouldered his rucksack entering the island town proper, one among many faceless shadows that swarmed Fisherman's Horizon now that the railroad had opened itself up once more.

There were no proper roads for him to follow just disused railtracks that swooped and circled the massive bowl of solar panels that glistened bluely in the morning light whilst the Mayor's home skulked unobtrusively on the disk that lay in the bowls nadir. Numerous dilapidated towers of rusted, salvaged scrap metal loomed all around topped with the huge wind turbines that turned lazily with the salty oceanic breeze. There were more piers and ramshackle shanty houses extending the harbour further out to sea than there had been when he'd last seen the town as Garden had smashed into it. More people had been drawn to this town as news of its existence had leaked out, some coming to learn or buy the technical expertise of the inhabitants, others by the ideal of self sufficiency, something of an antidote of Galbadias view of aggressive expansion although that was somewhat curtailed in the aftermath of the Ultimecia incident. Plus there were those like him who were just visiting although it wasn't the sights he was here to see.

Xu exited the cave still fuming, small beads of perspiration on her brow from the heat that had assailed her within, her temper not helped by the bats and buels that had attacked her as she searched the passageways to Ifrit's sanctum where she had to subdue the recalcitrant GF himself when he complained at being disturbed when it wasn't even a test. Where the hell could that idiot be? Surely he hadn't been sent on a training mission the night before his test, she'd have been told if that were the case although it wouldn't hurt just to make sure as two of the other possibilities just weren't palatable.

He sat on one of the rickety gantries gazing down on the town as a bird of prey scans the landscape below watching for the twitch of movement that signals lunch. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted an older man casting a fishing line from a gantry below and settle down into a deck chair gazing idly at the horizon the rod resting in his hand. he knew the person he wanted to see was down there somewhere it was just a case of spotting them amongst the crowd and scaffolding of buildings. It was a waste of energy to go down there and roam for although the town was small compared to other cities it was large enough for people to miss one another although that said Garden was the same as no doubt Xu and others were finding out.

Xu leant back in her seat sighing deeply as she switched the terminal off dejectedly.

'Tough day?' a soft voice asked behind her and Xu tilted her head up to see blue eyes and blonde cascading hair as slight feminine hands gripped the back of her chair.

'Just misplaced an errant cadet' Xu replied sitting forward as Quistis moved to sit on the desk beside her.

'A certain Xayne Rainrix I assume?' Quistis asked with a grim smile.

'How did you guess?'

'He's the only troublesome cadet I'm aware of, the last few months he's been irritatingly nonchalant and distant during lectures. He may yet take Squall's old title of most obstinately antisocial at this rate' Quistis replied sadly.

'Maybe so but at least Squall progressed with his training Xayne just seems to make no effort whatsoever and now has the nerve to vanish on the day of the Fire Cavern test' Xu said angrily drumming her fingers alongside the terminals keyboard.

'No sign of him at all?'

'Nope, I've searched all of Garden and the Fire Cavern, he hasn't been mistakenly assigned on a mission according to the records. I can only hope he's just off skiving in Balamb as I can't bear to contemplate the other possibilities'

'AWOL or dead' Quistis said darkly contemplating them for her.

'Either way not a happy prospect. I guess I'd better have a look around Balamb and hope for the best' Xu told her rising from the seat.

'Good luck' Quistis called as she watched her walk away her eyes flicking to the blackened screen with concern.

Even though the sun was now high in the sky the small town of Balamb lazed sleepily in the afternoon heat with hardly anyone about on the main avenue that pretty much made up the coastal village, except for two small children chasing each other up and down it.

Xu checked in at the Junk and Item shaps with a picture of Xayne to see if he had called in but had drawn a blank at both and so walked down the curving slope towards the harbour stopping off in the hotel briefly on the way past on the off chance Xanye may have made an illicit reservation but to no avail.

She was half expecting to see him sprawled on his back, legs dangling over the edge of the pier gazing up at the clouds just watching them drift by in that way she'd found him many times before when he skipped out on training. But like the Fire Cavern the harbour was deserted just the soft sound of waves crashing aganst the piers and the cries of gulls to break the silence. A ringing beeb made her jump as it suddenly went off at her hip before she reached for her communicator and answered it.

'Hello?' she said slightly bemused by the unexpected call.

'Just thought I'd let you know... someone used a SeeD account card to get a ticket from Balamb Station last night' came Quistis' voice in reply.

'Unauthorised?' Xu breathed sharply.

'As far as I can tell. No one went on a mission or on holiday leave yesterday'

'Thanks Quistis I'll go check it out' Xu told her clicking the communicator shut and started jogging back up the hill towards the station her heart beginning to race.

She arrived at the ticket booth slightly out of breath, grasping the counter as she waited to regain it.

'What's the rush young missy?' the old man behind the counter asked with a bemused twinkle in his eye.

Xu flopped a photograph onto the counter and the old man looked down into a plain masculine face that hardly had any remarkable features except the dark eyes that seemed to stare back at him from the picture and the deep red streak that ran through otherwise jet black midlength spikey hair.

'Did he buy a ticket from here last night?' Xu asked finally catching her breath.

The attendant sucked air through his teeth with a strange whistling sound 'Hard to say, it wasn't my shift then. Just give me a moment' he told her and strode into the back of the cabin where he shook a figure that sat snoring in a comfy chair.

There was a snort and some muttered moaning as the figure jolted awake looking at the attendant bleary eyed.

There was a brief discussion that Xu was unable to hear between them before the figure rose from the chair and started walking over to the counter stretching and yawning.

'So I'm told you're looking for someone?' the younger attendant asked her with a sheepish grin as he scratched his head sleepily.

'Yes I'm looking for this student. Do you know if he got on the train last night?' Xu replied pushing the photo towards him.

The young attendant picked it up and squinted at it, moving it back and forth into focus.

'He looks familiar although he was wearing a hood so I couldn't see his hair, though those eys I remember a bit cold I thought. Didn't seem to want to chat just grabbed his ticket and jumped on the train to Timber. Must have been important for him to rush so' he told her placing the photo back on the counter.

'Thanks very much I apologise for interrupting your sleep' Xu thanked him.

'Not to worry. I'm always glad to help a cute SeeD' he replied making Xu blush slightly.

Xu thanked him again and walked away heading back to Garden the new information swirling through her head.

'Just where do you think you're going Xayne?' she though angrily crushing the photograph in her clenched fist.


End file.
